Department of Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering
News

“The Best Educated Class In Our History”

May 14, 2022

At the 2022 commencement ceremony, undergraduates shared laughter, tears and hugs as they embark on a new journey

“The World Impatiently Waits For You”: 1100 USC Viterbi Master’s Students Graduate

May 14, 2022

First in-person, satellite ceremonies in two years feature four-star general and former CEO of Yahoo and Verizon Media as speakers

“Do Better Than Us”: Three Years of USC Viterbi Ph.D.s Receive Their Hoods.

May 12, 2022

At the 2022 Ph.D. Hooding and Awards Ceremony, 215 new graduates join Trojan forebears like Andrew Viterbi and Wanda Austin.

Trojan in the Sky

May 09, 2022

For USC Viterbi class of 2022 PhD Rishi Malhan, the future of robotics and sustainability lives in the skies.

More Than Robotics

May 04, 2022

USC Viterbi student Joy Uehara deepened her love of systems as a robotics mentor. Her most recent team was featured in Disney’s documentary “More than Robots.”

Class of 2022 Graduate Gets Thrifty in the Startup World

May 03, 2022

Product Development Engineering graduate Patricia Garcia is winning accolades for her company that allows students to thrift their collegiate gear.

Supporting Girls in Space: USC Viterbi Program Returns for Summer 2022

Apr 05, 2022

With renewed support, Project Payload returns to offer underrepresented girls in STEM a hands-on experience in aerospace engineering and computer science

8 USC Viterbi Faculty Receive NSF CAREER Awards

Apr 04, 2022

The NSF’s most prestigious award for junior faculty has now been received by 13 USC Viterbi faculty over the past two years

New 3D Printing Technique: A Game Changer for Medical Testing Devices

Apr 01, 2022

USC Viterbi researchers have developed a 3D printing technique to fabricate microfluidic devices for biomedical applications at a microscale not previously possible.

Achieving Success Through Imprecision

Mar 30, 2022

USC Viterbi researchers aim to build a better brain with a never-before-used approach

Bo Jin Receives 2022 Society of Manufacturing Engineers Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award

Mar 30, 2022

Bo Jin, lecturer in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, is one of 11 recipients of the 2022 Sandra L. Bouckley Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award. The award was given by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), an association committed to advancing manufacturing and developing a skilled workforce. Jin is the faculty advisor of the USC Advanced Composites Design Team, … Read More

Najmedin Meshkati Honored as an Inaugural Titan of The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society

Mar 01, 2022

Meshkati, an expert in the field of risk reduction in complex technological systems, was recognized at The HFES February Symposium.

USC Viterbi Students Win Poster Award at Top Fluid Dynamics Conference

Feb 16, 2022

The team, who won second place at the American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics Conference, featured two high school students through the SHINE program.

USC Alumna, Deniz Burnham, Beats Out 12,000 Applicants to Join NASA’s Newest Astronaut Class

Feb 15, 2022

Burnham beat out thousands of applicants for the opportunity to train for space missions.

Designing Magnetic Materials Using Mathematical Tools

Feb 07, 2022

USC Viterbi researchers find the key to a longstanding puzzle on how magnetic hysteresis can be dramatically reduced, paving the way for magnet usage in next-generation energy conversion and electronic devices.

Francisco Valero-Cuevas Selected As One of 12 U.S. Scientists To Advise on Issues of Medical Rehab and Disabilities

Feb 04, 2022

His four year term with the NIH’s Advisory Board On Medical Rehabilitation Research began in July 2021.

Beyond 3-D Printing and Robotics, the Most Lasting Thing Kendall Work Built? Communities.

Feb 03, 2022

Senior mechanical engineering student attributes his successful college experience to the communities he built at USC Viterbi

Superhero Confidence for Kids with Limb Differences

Feb 01, 2022

USC students design colorful 3D-printed prosthetics for Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles patients.

‘We Want to Assemble Anything’

Jan 24, 2022

Max Reynolds (AME ’14) launched a startup, Symbio, that revolutionizes how artificial intelligence (AI) can be applied to the manufacturing industry

An Actress, Pilot and Engineer: One Student Does It All

Jan 20, 2022

From gymnastics to the U.S. Air Force ROTC, USC Viterbi senior Natalie Smith built her life on asking ‘Why not?’

Breakfast of Champions, Prepared by Your Neighborhood Robot

Jan 12, 2022

No need for fancy cafes. For your next coffee and pancake order, all you need is a couple of robots – and USC Viterbi students to program them.

Machine Communicates Emotion with Nearly 80% Accuracy of Human Touch

Dec 17, 2021

New Haptic Device Can Communicate Attention, Gratitude, Happiness, Calming, Sadness, or Love

Your Next Package Could be Delivered by a Robot

Dec 13, 2021

USC Viterbi researchers help four-legged robots carry heavy packages to spaces unknown

USC’s Cyrus Shahabi, Andrea Armani, and Shri Narayan Elected Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors

Dec 07, 2021

The trio joins a distinguished class of 175 new inductees who “demonstrate a prolific spirit of innovation”

The Art of Mixing: Shapeshifting and Shockwaves

Nov 17, 2021

USC researchers develop a tracking method in supersonic and hypersonic engines, paving the way for optimal combustion in high-speed flights

Two USC Viterbi Students Named Caldwell Scholars

Oct 06, 2021

First-year students Jose M. Zarate Diaz and Raul Torres Jr. win the prestigious award

Could 3D Paper Be a Sustainable Alternative to Plastic?

Sep 22, 2021

Mechanical engineering student Aidan Leitch hopes his technique of using recycled paper to form solid objects can open doors to environmentally friendly plastic replacements.

Can Robots Create Fashion?

Sep 01, 2021

For three mechanical engineering students, summer vacation included making tie-dye – with Baxter, the robot.

Gold and Silver: USC Viterbi Students Nearly Sweep Top Awards at Nation’s Largest Manufacturing Research Conference

Aug 31, 2021

First and second place awards for best paper earned by students in USC’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing

How I Spent My COVID Quarantine: 3-D Printing A Laser Harp

Aug 24, 2021

USC Viterbi student Reuben Levine combines his engineering prowess with music knowledge to create a unique instrument in his own home.

Want Your Lithium Batteries To Last Longer? Try Stretching.

Aug 16, 2021

USC researchers have applied fundamental mechanics to help increase battery storage capacity and lifespan.

Electric Propulsion: The Future of Sustainable Aviation

Jul 23, 2021

USC researchers awarded a new NASA grant to make air travel cleaner, greener and more adaptable.

Undergraduate Researchers Impress Viterbi Community With CURVE Symposium Posters

Jul 22, 2021

Over 100 USC Viterbi undergraduates present their year-long research projects virtually at the 2021 Viterbi Research Symposium

Could Mapping Tiny Hairlike Structures Help Treat Lung Illnesses?

Jul 14, 2021

With a $2.3 million NIH award, USC researchers will study how cilia behavior and structure impact their function, a key in improving diagnostics and treatments for lung illnesses like COVID-19.

Ten USC Viterbi Students Honored with Aerospace Fellowship

Jun 25, 2021

A collaboration between the USC WiSE program and the Aerospace Corporation, this prestigious fellowship offers students the opportunity to gain real-life industry experience and develop their skills

Commencement 2021: Engineering Grads Take Center Stage at L.A. Coliseum For First Time in 71 Years

May 21, 2021

In a return to in-person graduation, the Class of 2020 and 2021 celebrate “passage to a post-COVID new world”

When Your Actual Family is a Trojan Family, USC is More than a Dream

May 17, 2021

USC graduates Parker Alban and his sister Sierra Alban carry on their family tradition at commencement, culminating a dream that began over 70 years ago with their USC alumni grandparents.

Five USC Viterbi Faculty Receive 2021 NSF CAREER Awards

May 11, 2021

Research spans from self driving cars, virtual touch, AI for good, teaching machines commonsense and electromagnetic device design.

How Do You Build a Rocket Without a Lab?

Apr 14, 2021

How USC’s renowned Rocket Propulsion Laboratory took one of the most hands-on clubs on campus remote.

AME 441 Students Place 2nd, 3rd at AIAA Region VI Student Conference

Apr 14, 2021

AME students presented designs to allow for more efficient CubeSat operations and to disrupt criminal drone systems using sound at the annual AIAA student conference.

Students Shine In Design

Apr 07, 2021

Fifty-three USC Viterbi freshmen impressed judges with their unique designs at the 2021 Boeing Freshman Design Challenge.

Over 100 Undergraduate Students Conduct Research Remotely

Mar 30, 2021

As part of the Center for Undergraduate Research in Viterbi Engineering fellowships, undergraduate students participated in research spanning topics including disruptive space engineering, climate change, robotics and AI for social good.

Mechanical Engineering Student Dreams of Engineering New Sounds

Mar 15, 2021

AME Junior David Krieger fell in love with music first and later, found his passion for engineering could drive him to explore sound in a whole new way.

Can We Predict Which COVID-19 Patients Will End Up in the ICU?

Mar 01, 2021

USC researchers created an algorithm that uses five biomarkers to determine which COVID-19 patients will need intensive care after hospitalization.

Can A Robot Operate Effectively Underwater?

Feb 25, 2021

USC researchers find sea stars’ shape plays an important role in their ability to withstand dynamic water forces and remain attached to surfaces.

The Four-Legged Robot That Can Crawl, Crouch, Clean and Fight COVID

Jan 25, 2021

A team of USC master’s students creates a disinfection robot to use on COVID-19 prevention.

What if Silent Heart Attacks Could be Diagnosed at Home?

Jan 06, 2021

USC Researchers use biofluid dynamics (hemodynamics) that can potentially detect heart attacks in patients without chest pain and lower mortality and re-hospitalization rates for heart failure patients.

Paul Newton named AAAS Fellow

Dec 01, 2020

Professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering joins 40 previously selected faculty members as fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Wellness Workout: Mechancial Engineering Student Leads 6-Minute Yoga

Nov 18, 2020

Mechanical engineering student Anna Balbach is also a certified yoga instructor. She shared this six-minute video to help peers find mental balance and strength ahead of finals.

Adapting to COVID-19: New Procedures Guiding Lab Safety for Students

Nov 02, 2020

Learn how the AME lab space at Biegler Hall has adjusted its space to ensure safety of its students, faculty and staff while allowing for immersive, hands-on learning.

A 10-Day Forecast for COVID-19

Oct 28, 2020

USC Viterbi’s Roger Ghanem and Xiaoshu Zeng have created models which predict daily, new COVID-19 cases.

Can the Movement of Tiny Hairlike Structures Tell Us How Healthy We Are?

Oct 20, 2020

Researchers determine triggers for transitions between coordinated movement of organelles called cilia, identifying a potential diagnostic tool for cancer and other illnesses.

Imagine If Your Personal Device Worked All Day

Oct 15, 2020

Professor Ananya Renuka Balakrishna attempts to create batteries with longer lifespans.

“Viterbi vs. Pandemics!” Lecture 4: Automation Technologies for Ensuring Human Safety during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Oct 14, 2020

The fourth lecture in the 10-part series focuses on how automation can help enhance human productivity in industries such as manufacturing while keeping them safe during the global pandemic.

“Viterbi vs. Pandemics!” Lecture 2: Fluid Dynamics of the Spread of COVID-19

Oct 05, 2020

The second lecture in the 10-part series focuses on how the virus spreads in droplets and what masks are most effective

“Viterbi vs. Pandemics!” Lecture 1: Modeling Epidemics

Sep 30, 2020

Inaugural lecture in 10-part series focuses on modeling epidemics as a chemical reaction process

A Sustainable Hackathon

Sep 11, 2020

The 4th annual Sustain-A-Thon saw 57 students propose solutions for making the planet more livable and sustainable.

Engineering Our Way Through a Global Pandemic

Sep 11, 2020

USC master’s students tackle robots, masks and droplet dispersion, to better understand how to live with COVID-19.

USC Viterbi Offers Two New Short Courses: “Viterbi vs. Pandemics!” and “Sustainable Energy”

Sep 03, 2020

Both lecture series launch the week after Labor Day, offering students a comprehensive faculty coverage of COVID-19 and a series on sustainable energy with Dean Yortsos

Biegler Hall Gets a Makeover

Sep 01, 2020

The third floor Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering lab was reconfigured over the summer to offer students an interactive, yet safe experience this fall.

Viterbi Researchers Create The Lightest, Smallest, Fully Autonomous Crawling Microrobot Reported To Date

Aug 19, 2020

The RoBeetle’s artificial muscle is powered by controlled catalytic combustion, a technology that has the potential to enable the development of a diverse new generation of microrobots capable of operating on land, water and air.

USC Viterbi Sustainability Projects Receive $150,000 Funding Boost

Aug 18, 2020

Projects centered on precision agriculture, water modeling using AI, and smog-reducing architecture have been recognized in the USC Center for Sustainability Solutions’ latest grants.

Walking, Climbing, Leaping Robots!

Aug 04, 2020

The work of USC Viterbi’s Quan Nguyen focuses on improving robot agility in legged robots so they can more easily and efficiently navigate difficult terrain

Shockwaves Might Offer the Jolt Needed to Reach Mars

Jul 13, 2020

Applying shockwaves can improve conditions for fluid mixing in supersonic combustion engines, paving the way for flights at speeds five times faster than the speed of sound.

USC Viterbi Doctoral Student Ke Xu Wins WiSE Merit Award

Jul 07, 2020

Xu’s research focuses on on the creation of electronics-free, entirely-soft autonomous robots.

Helping La Peñita Through COVID-19

Jul 02, 2020

Travis Mendoza, ’16, came to Mexico to build a hotel; when the pandemic struck, he began to focus more on building a community.

AI to Better Diagnose and Treat Renal Cancer and COVID-19

Jun 18, 2020

USC researchers are using AI to fuel more confident diagnosis of renal tumors, as well as more customized treatment for cancer patients and patients infected with COVID-19.

USC Student Team Makes NASA RASC-AL Competition Finals

Jun 16, 2020

The design team will present its design on Wednesday, June 17 at 10:50 a.m. PST. Livestream will be available.

USC Aerodesign Team Takes First Place for the Third Time at the Annual AIAA Design/Build/Fly Competition

Jun 03, 2020

From among 113 teams around the world, USC students came in first in the remote fly-off and also won best report at the 2019-2020 competition.

Catching Defects Before They Multiply

Jun 01, 2020

USC and IBM researchers use deep learning to identify manufacturing issues before they spread, reducing wasted time, money and materials.

Six USC Viterbi Faculty Win NSF CAREER Awards

Jun 01, 2020

Awards span research from machine learning to wastewater reuse to fluid dynamics and to self-healing materials.

Paul Ronney to Chair the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering

May 27, 2020

Combustion expert to start a three-year term on July 1, 2020.

The 2020 Undergraduate Student Awards

May 27, 2020

Motivated to engineer a better world for all humanity, USC Viterbi celebrates graduates who have pursued academic excellence and impacted their communities.

Darwin’s Evolutionary Theory Could Help Fight Cancer

May 26, 2020

Computational models developed by USC researchers show adaptively controlling tumor cell populations to keep them in competition can more effectively treat cancer.

USC Undergraduate Researcher Peers Beneath The Waves

May 14, 2020

Hannah Walker, a graduating mechanical engineering major and winner of the USC Discovery Scholar Prize, has created a device to inexpensively map the ocean’s underwater topography.

“These Stories Won’t Be Available Forever:” Senior Combines AI and Documentary Filmmaking to Preserve the Past

May 11, 2020

Imagine a museum where Japanese-Americans from World War II live on as virtual avatars. Cole Kawana is working on it.

2020 AME Senior Awards

May 09, 2020

The Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering honored outstanding seniors on Friday, May 1 at a virtual celebration of their achievements.

GrayMatter Robotics Wins the Maseeh Entrepreneurship Prize Competition

May 07, 2020

The USC Viterbi-led startup, which hopes to leverage AI for manufacturing, takes home the $50,000 grand prize at the 10th annual MEPC.

Trojan Students Sweep the Boeing Innovation Challenge

Apr 22, 2020

USC teams take the first three places in the prestigious competition, with USC Viterbi students leading the way.

How to Build a Plane in 90 Minutes

Apr 14, 2020

Dozens of USC Viterbi freshmen competed in the Boeing Design Challenge, where they got a taste of engineering design at a real-world aerospace company.

Robotic Arms Extend the Reach of UV Disinfection

Apr 13, 2020

USC researchers adapt a customizable robot to autonomously perform disinfection tasks in both small and large spaces.

As the World Goes Remote, USC Researchers, Entrepreneurs Work to Fill Gap in Healthcare Supply Chain

Apr 08, 2020

USC researchers and alumni emphasize innovation and collaboration to support the fight against COVID-19 on the front lines.

USC Viterbi Listed Again Among the Nation’s Top 10 Engineering Graduate Programs

Mar 19, 2020

Annual rankings by U.S. News & World Report also keep USC Viterbi among the top five private engineering schools

Too Complex to Print? Call A Robot.

Mar 13, 2020

USC researchers build robots that can print complicated shapes without compromising on quality or accuracy.

Rocket Handles New Features with Poise

Feb 19, 2020

The record-breaking student-led USC Rocket Propulsion Laboratory launched its latest vehicle, Poise, to test a new propellant, recovery system and more.

Is There Life on Mars? With the Right Tools, There Could Be.

Feb 06, 2020

A team of USC students is one of 10 finalists awarded $10K to build a water extraction tool for NASA’s Moon to Mars challenge.

What If Cell Service Was Portable?

Jan 28, 2020

USC students launch Beamlink to provide the first ultraportable, low cost cellular base station for disaster relief and rural connectivity.

Hard Work Pays Off

Jan 16, 2020

USC Viterbi freshman Jovani Esparza, a first-generation scholarship student, has worked since age 10 to support his family

How Does a Sea Star Bounce?

Jan 08, 2020

What USC researchers uncovered about sea star locomotion could help scientists design simpler, decentralized systems in robotics and beyond.

New Research Will Create Porous Materials Inspired by Nature

Dec 16, 2019

Henry Salvatori Early Career Chair Mitul Luhar was awarded $500K to develop porous materials to better regulate fluid flow, with implications toward smoother performance for aircrafts, water vessels and ground vehicles.

New USC Research Will Investigate High-Speed Turbulence and Its Impact on Flexible Walls

Dec 11, 2019

The research team was awarded 2.1M Node-hours by US Department of Energy’s INCITE program to develop a framework that can inform future high-speed flying vehicles.

Changing a 150-year-old paradigm

Nov 25, 2019

USC Researcher Discovers a New Approach to Stabilize Spinning Systems by Simultaneously Injecting and Removing Energy

“All Heart”

Nov 25, 2019

Alina Garcia Taormina, a USC Viterbi Ph.D. student, is named Graduate Student Role Model by the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.

USC Viterbi Researchers Honored with Best Paper Nomination at the 2019 International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems

Nov 22, 2019

Researchers from the Autonomous Microrobotic Systems Laboratory were acknowledged for designing the first four-winged robotic insect weighing less than 100mg.

Department of Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering News

Department of Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering

Department of Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering
News